If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

European houseboating

I've had a pretty busy year and have missed checking out this forum each morning 5 weeks ago we flew to Marseilles where we prepped our 41' Morgan for canal cruising by removing both of the big flagpoles. We've since come up the Rhone in full flood stage where we only made 1.9 kts in some places. Since then we've passed the Rhone, come up the Soane and are now over the top of the highest canals on the way to Nancy. We did 34 locks yesterday uphill and today we're on the 21st of the 22 locks that we have to do today.
The houseboats over here are big, wide river boats. A lot of them are formal commercial boats and many of them carry their cars along on the boats. I'll post some pics of them.
The chart shows the canals that we are in on the way to Nancy. There's dense forest along most of the way. The small curved black marks on the canals are locks. Often we go out of one lock directly into another. The center pic is coming out of 1 of the 2 tunnels that we passed through. Most of the bridges and tunnels have less than 4 meters clearance. The locks are 17' wide and Apria is 14' without the fenders. So we just squeeze in. I'll post a broadside view of Apria. We're on our way from Marseilles to Amsterdam where we'll leave the boat for the winter. Meanwhile my 50' Burns is sitting forlornly in Ft Pierce on the hard.